HMS Invincible (1747)

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Career France, Britain
Laid down:
Launched:
Out of service:	1758
Captured:	Captured by the Royal Navy in 1747
Status:	beached
General Characteristics
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Armament:	74 guns

HMS Invincible was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy which was lost in 1758 when it hit a sandbank in the East Solent.

She was the French ship L'Invincible until she was captured on May 14, 1747 at the first battle of Cape Finisterre during the War of the Austrian Succession. She was escorting a convoy of merchant ships when she was sighted by the British channel fleet of 16 ships of the line, which gave chase. L'Invincible attacked the British ships to give the convoy a chance to escape, and alone engaged six British warships. In the end with most of her crew dead or wounded she struck her colours. Gracious in defeat, the French Commander, Saint-Georges, handed his sword to Admiral George Anson.

During the early part of the 18th century British ship designers had made no significant advances in design, whereas French shipbuilding benefited from a remarkably creative period. At the time of the capture of L'Invincible, there was not one 74-gun ship in the Royal Navy. By 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar, three quarters of British ships of the line were of this singular design and the 74-gun ship became the backbone of all major navies of the world.

The wrecksite was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 30 September 1980.

In 1996 the Amer Ved grounded at the wrecksite, although it is not clear whether or not this resulted in damage to the remains.